Wrestling: High Point overcomes early deficit to win Group 2 title

High Point’s Jason Gaccione lost the last bout of the NJSIAA Group 2 state championship against Long Branch on Sunday, but still had a bigger smile on his face than anyone else at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River afterward.

Gaccione did not get pinned in the final match at 145 pounds and successfully protected his team’s six-point lead, which was built on the strength of four late pins that propelled High Point to a 33-30 victory, and its third state title.

“To be able to leave here with a win – it feels great,” said High Point coach John Gardner, who won his two previous titles in Group 3. “I don’t care what group we’re in, they can put us in a different group next year it doesn’t matter. To be able to come down here and go 2-0 is just great.”

The Sussex County team trailed, 21-6, when Gaccione insisted that his teammates get louder and be more active in encouraging their fellow wrestlers from the bench.

“I wanted to get my team into it, get the fans into it,” Gaccione said. “We’ve said all year, ‘When you get the Wildcats on a roll, we’re unstoppable.’ I know that when everyone gets up and things get going, we get to our lower weights and they finish it off. It feels great to be able to do that.”

Starting with standout sophomore Dominick Gallo at 106 pounds, High Point registered four falls in five bouts to turn its 21-6 deficit into a 30-27 lead.

Gallo used a cradle to flatten Mike Jones in just 52 seconds and jumpstart High Point’s scoring.

“We were still confident because we’re a tight-knit team and we pick each other up pretty well,” Gallo said about overcoming an early deficit. “I knew that once I pinned, the guys would start picking their heads up and go on the attack. Once we get going, it’s a great thing to watch.”

After Long Branch answered with a pin of its own, High Point ripped off three straight falls as freshman Jared Kobis connected on a pancake and pinned in 5:30 at 120 pounds, Connor McHugh recorded a fall in just 1:32 at 126, and Mike Derin used a bear hug to bring down Danny Mullan and pin him in 1:20 at 132.

The decisive victory, however, came at 138 pounds when High Point’s Chris Auer stunned the Long Branch faithful with an impressive 9-2 decision over battle-tested Nick Menkin.

If Auer had lost, the match would have been tied 30-30 and Gaccione would have needed to win to lift High Point. But Auer’s victory gave his team a 33-27 advantage heading into the final bout, where Gaccione just had to stay off his back.

The sophomore dropped just a 3-0 decision loss to Long Branch’s Nick George and secured High Point’s second state title in three years. Gaccione later embraced the championship trophy with fellow youngsters Kobis and Gallo.

“We’re going to be here for another two years so hopefully we can get two more,” Gallo said. “That would be nice.”

Long Branch won eight bouts but got pinned a total of five times in its six losses.

The Monmouth County team started with a 7-3 decision from Nick George at 152 pounds, a 9-3 victory by Luke Balina at 160, a pin via cradle from Nick Pappayliou at 170 and a 3-0 decision by Chris Pappayliou at 182 to take a 15-0 lead.

Kyle Stoll got it all started for High Point at 195 pounds when he used a cradle to record the fall in 1:41, before Long Branch’s Joey Guidetti and Gianni Augustin won decisions at 220 and 285, respectively.